3 ms·

It’s not that strange? The words are homophones and both express a reticent emotional state.

by pavlov 2y ago

robin_reala 2y ago
Where in the world are you that weary and wary are homophones? Genuinely interested, I can’t think of a dialect where that’s the case.
- Majestic121 2y ago
  As a non-native speaker, 'to be wary' is not really in my vocabulary, while 'to be weary' seems much more common, and both sound pretty close to each other even if there is a difference even with my accent, so I could see myself making the mistake. It looks similar to than/then, but than/then is much more jarring to me for some reason.
- pavlov 2y ago
  They are not homophones? I’m not a native speaker and I’ve simply always assumed they are. I lived in London and the US for many years, but these are not common words in speech so I never got corrected. I guess that must mean “wear” and “weary” have a different pronunciation for “ea”. This vowel digraph remains my eternal nemesis… Ever since I learned as a child that “bear” doesn’t rhyme with “fear” and found myself faced with the overwhelming realization that I will never speak this language 100% correctly, no matter how much effort I put into reading and writing.
  - marssaxman 2y ago
    > I guess that must mean “wear” and “weary” have a different pronunciation for “ea”. Indeed so! "Wear" and "ware" are homophones, having the same vowel sound as "wary". "Weary", on the other hand, rhymes with "cheery" or "dreary". > I will never speak this language 100% correctly I am a middle-aged native speaker, an avid lifelong reader with a love for the language, and I still occasionally discover that I am mispronouncing words I have known for years.
  - harimau777 2y ago
    I pronounce weary with a long e sound and wairy with a vowel sound between long and short a (similar to "air"). To me they are very similar and rhyme but not identical.
  - hermitcrab 2y ago
    Native Enlish speaker here (from the UK). I feel so sorry for anyone learning English as a foreign language - it's a mess!
mannykannot 2y ago
While they do both often express a reticent emotional state, the cause of that state is different: for 'weary', it is exhaustion from past events, while for 'wary', the concern is to avoid undesirable events in the future. There is arguably some overlap where someone is being wary because they are weary of similar situations turning out badly all too often in the past.

It’s not that strange? The words are homophones and both express a reticent emotional state.

by pavlov 2y ago

It’s not that strange? The words are homophones and both express a reticent emotional state.

Where in the world are you that weary and wary are homophones? Genuinely interested, I can’t think of a dialect where that’s the case.

Majestic121 2y ago
As a non-native speaker, 'to be wary' is not really in my vocabulary, while 'to be weary' seems much more common, and both sound pretty close to each other even if there is a difference even with my accent, so I could see myself making the mistake. It looks similar to than/then, but than/then is much more jarring to me for some reason.
pavlov 2y ago
They are not homophones? I’m not a native speaker and I’ve simply always assumed they are. I lived in London and the US for many years, but these are not common words in speech so I never got corrected. I guess that must mean “wear” and “weary” have a different pronunciation for “ea”. This vowel digraph remains my eternal nemesis… Ever since I learned as a child that “bear” doesn’t rhyme with “fear” and found myself faced with the overwhelming realization that I will never speak this language 100% correctly, no matter how much effort I put into reading and writing.
- marssaxman 2y ago
  > I guess that must mean “wear” and “weary” have a different pronunciation for “ea”. Indeed so! "Wear" and "ware" are homophones, having the same vowel sound as "wary". "Weary", on the other hand, rhymes with "cheery" or "dreary". > I will never speak this language 100% correctly I am a middle-aged native speaker, an avid lifelong reader with a love for the language, and I still occasionally discover that I am mispronouncing words I have known for years.
- harimau777 2y ago
  I pronounce weary with a long e sound and wairy with a vowel sound between long and short a (similar to "air"). To me they are very similar and rhyme but not identical.
- hermitcrab 2y ago
  Native Enlish speaker here (from the UK). I feel so sorry for anyone learning English as a foreign language - it's a mess!

mannykannot 2y ago

While they do both often express a reticent emotional state, the cause of that state is different: for 'weary', it is exhaustion from past events, while for 'wary', the concern is to avoid undesirable events in the future. There is arguably some overlap where someone is being wary because they are weary of similar situations turning out badly all too often in the past.